Judge throws out lawsuit against Huntington Beach filed by mother of man fatally shot by police

A federal judge Wednesday put an end to a civil-rights lawsuit brought against the city of Huntington Beach by the mother of a 29-year-old man who was fatally shot by police last year.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford granted the city’s request for summary judgment, or a ruling without trial. Guilford wrote in his 13-page ruling that the city provided “significant evidence showing that the officers acted reasonably, in defense of the safety of others.”

Angela Hernandez filed her lawsuit last year on behalf of her son, Steven Schiltz, who was shot to death by Huntington Beach police officers Trevor Jackson and Casey Thomas on a soccer field at the Huntington Central Park Sports Complex on March 9, 2017.

The lawsuit sought $20 million in damages based on allegations of wrongful death, excessive force and inadequate training on the part of the officers, as well as negligence and battery. It also alleged that law enforcement failed to call for medical care for Schiltz in a timely manner, resulting in his death.

City Attorney Michael Gates said Wednesday that the officers were justified in how they handled the situation.

“To have this high-profile case put to rest is really extraordinary,” Gates said. “It’s always very gratifying for us to fight for our officers and achieve victories like this.”

Hernandez’s attorney, Dale Galipo, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Wednesday.

However, Galipo said during a court hearing Monday that Schiltz suffered from mental illness and was “clearly acting in some bizarre fashion” but that officers did not have to use lethal force to subdue him. He noted that officers were equipped with Tasers and had a police dog with them.

Police said last year that they went to the complex at about 7:20 p.m. in response to emergency calls about a man with a bat and a broken bottle hitting trees and chasing people around the fields.

Jackson asked Schiltz, who appeared to be holding a sharpened stick, to talk with him, police said. Schiltz refused and began running around a soccer field filled with children and families. Schiltz jumped over a fence, fell onto concrete and injured himself but continued to run, police said.

A few people on the field chased Schiltz and swung tree branches at him before Jackson told them to stop, according to court records.

The city contends Schiltz ignored officers’ commands to drop the stick and climbed a set of bleachers and made a “threatening move” toward a woman and her 6-year-old son, according to court documents.

Attorneys for the city said Jackson fired at least three shots at Schiltz in an effort to protect the woman and child.

When it appeared Schiltz was getting up to strike the woman, Jackson and Thomas each fired one more shot at him, hitting him in the forehead and chest, according to court documents.

Schiltz, who was at the sports complex to play in a softball game sponsored by the Huntington Beach Adult Softball League, had marijuana and methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death, according to court filings.

Galipo on Monday raised issues with several pieces of information the city presented about what happened on the field, including the size of the stick Schiltz was holding and whether he was close enough to the woman and child to justify shots being fired.

He argued that a jury should decide those issues.

Guilford’s ruling called the objections “boilerplate” and “a waste.” He added that the evidence “tends to show that the officers acted reasonably to protect others after Schiltz refused to obey the officers’ instructions, ran from the officers and made a purposeful move toward people nearby with a sharpened stick.”

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN